Herman and his squad will begin preseason workouts on Tuesday with a much different attitude and perspective than last year. That is actually a good thing.
When Herman inherited Charlie Strong’s team, he believed it was necessary to come at his players like a spider monkey. Herman laid down the law during his initial team meeting, and none of his players were happy. It was a drastic change from Texas’ previous staff, and the culture shock was hard for many players to handle. Herman inherited a team that endured three straight losing seasons. While some thought those players needed hugs, Herman believed it was more important to give them a kick in the ass to change their mindset.
If we are being honest, players were initially leery of the new staff. They did not know what to expect. The guys initially complained about Herman being too tough. They were not sure who to trust. Yancy McKnight, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, was the first staff member players were exposed to for an extended period of time. It was his job to develop their bodies, while establishing trust.
McKnight accepted the challenge prior to last year’s winter conditioning program, and exceeded the expectations of players and fans. “I told them day one in the team meeting,” McKnight said nearly a year ago. “Relationships. Just because I’m a coach, there are some respect factors that you are going to have automatically because you’re a coach, but at the same time, respect and trust is not given. That goes for both sides. I told them that. I don’t expect them right this minute to respect me completely, or trust me completely, yet. I’m going to work day and night, every minute, to earn it from them, and likewise.
“But it’s also really easy to lose it. It’s not really breaking them down. That’s not really it. They’re going to work. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to work smart and do those things. They’re going to train. I think they’re hungry. They (know the) standards that this place has at the University of Texas. They understand that. I think they’re on a mission to change.” McKnight turned out to be the favorite coach of nearly every player on last year’s team. He transformed their bodies. They became stronger and faster. More importantly, he earned their trust and respect. McKnight was the perfect bridge between a 5-7 team in 2016 and spring football practice in 2017.
Obviously, Texas finished with a 7-6 record last season, including a bowl victory against Missouri. It was the teams’ first bowl victory since the 2012 season. It was a huge deal considering Texas won the game without left tackle Connor Williams, linebacker Malik Jefferson, cornerback Holton Hill, safety DeShon Elliott, running back Toneil Carter, running back Chris Warren III, receiver Lil’ Jordan Humphrey and tight end Garrett Gray. There was a sense of accomplishment after the win. More importantly, it was a huge confidence builder.
In addition, one thing Texas lacked prior to last season was having the extra bowl practices to build momentum into next season. However, Texas had 15 bowl practices and the first opportunity to develop young players since 2014.
“What is the importance of going to a bowl game?” Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said late last season. “It’s another spring ball. It’s so huge. I mean you are completely behind. If you go two years here and don’t have the opportunity to go to a bowl, and I’m not talking about getting Malik Jefferson right. It’s like getting [Marquez] Bimmage [linebacker] right. Getting some of these other guys that need reps, that need to be coached by us. It’s so important to be able to have those extra practices. If you think about it, you practice up to whatever date we go to a bowl game, those kids go away, you come back and have winter workouts, then you’re back on the field in late March, or whatever it is. That’s great carryover for us, so, it’s huge, in terms of development.”
That is why the beginning of this offseason is different for Herman and his players.
When winter conditioning begins on Tuesday, Herman is working with a group of guys coming off their first winning season since 2013. There has been a lot of optimism and confidence throughout the program since that Texas Bowl victory in December. As a result, the start of winter conditioning will unlike last season. For instance, instead of testing players for strength and weaknesses on Tuesday, the Longhorns will hit the ground running. “Not testing,” a person associated with the program told me. “This is a motivated group that will be ready, so they go straight into their offseason program.”
That is the advantage of playing in a bowl game two weeks ago. If you think about it, the season for Longhorn players ended in November for two straight years prior to Herman’s arrival, meaning players had at least six weeks off after the season finale. Sure, some guys worked out on their own, but there were weeks wasted trying to get players in shape. As a result, the Longhorns were always behind when winter conditioning began the previous two years.
Now, you cannot forget lack of belief and confidence within the program after failing to post a winning season for three straight years. Strong and staff spent time trying to convince players they can win games. Ultimately, they never believed, and that resulted in embarrassing losses against BYU, Iowa State and Kansas during Strong's tenure.
However, Herman’s team is coming off a winning season, and people associated are confident their players are ready to go because of the bowl game.
“That group is aligned and pulling together like they did in bowl prep,” a person associated with the program told me.
However, let us not get too crazy.
Herman is not going to eliminate the three groups during workouts – gold, green and crimson.
Here is McKnight’s previous explanation for each group:
Gold: “Guys you have no problem with. Maybe even young guys that do it the right way, they’re mature, their position coach doesn’t have to run all over time chasing them around trying to (get) them to class, or get them to a lift, or whatever it is.”
Green: “Guys are transitioning up. Green for a traffic light. Moving that way."
Crimson: “For the guys who need help. Can't get to class. It’s ongoing. Every day is an evaluation. If you can’t get to treatment on time, we know we will have to put things in place to help you, and remind you, things like that. If you can get to where you’re supposed to go, and do all your stuff, then you get treated like a big boy. If you can’t do those other things. Can't set your alarm clock, then we’re going to have someone do it for you. You got a lot of responsibilities. You have to check in and do that stuff. I’m sure it gets monotonous, but once they change their pattern and behavior, we’ll take those restrictions off of them.”
Gold group players are usually rewarded with steak, shrimp, pasta, cheesecake and a triple chocolate cake, while crimson guys received burnt hot dogs, soggy eggs, and other bad food. For what it is worth, I was told players who were in the crimson group often skipped the poorly prepared meal and went to Chick-Fil-La to eat.
If you are looking for another positive aspect of the start of winter conditioning, think about the environment this year’s early enrollees are entering.
Instead of entering a divided locker room where upper-classmen do not respect freshmen, coaches comparing star players to fake diamonds, and losing is the norm, this year’s freshmen will enter a room full of guys who have experienced winning and are willing to pass along what they know.
From what I was told, the upper-classmen have been looking forward to the arrival of Herman’s freshman class because they desperately want guys on who can help Texas win. Of course, some players think the freshmen will provide depth, but we know there are guys who will push for immediate playing time, especially in the secondary.
“The signing class and bowl win really helped a lot with building culture,” a person associated with the program told me. “Great foundation was getting put in place, but that gave it a shot of energy.”
******
An area the Texas Athletics Department hasn't been up to par in during recent years is facilities. Specifically, there didn’t seem – and sources I’ve spoken with have brought this up over the years – a clear person in charge of facilities and the urgency to keep Texas at the top in college athletics.
Well, expect new Athletics Director Chris Del Conte to keep facilities on his mind and everyone else’s, and he’s not going to sit around and wait for a winning program to use as a tool to lure donors in. He will approach them immediately.
“My job is not to wait for him to have success for donors to come running,” responded Del Conte when asked if he needs Tom Herman to win before the next football projects. “My job is to come and talk about The University of Texas… I am running a business for them. For every donor that buys a season ticket, t-shirt, or donates a million dollars, I’m going to need their help. If we waited until we won a national championship before someone jumped on the bandwagon, then they’re not the wind beneath our wings we need. Every single Longhorn has been phenomenal. But I don’t want to wait until we say we have a winning season to go ask for money. That would mean I’m not doing my job.”
At TCU, Del Conte sold the vision of TCU when he raised millions of dollars while his athletics teams were still getting established. “I built an arena without Jaime Dixonl built an arena at Rice without having a winning tradition or culture there. You have to build a case for what it will do to help your entire sports program and your entire athletic department. We collectively all must help - coaches, student-athletes, donors, parents, friends. You name it. Collectively. Every Longhorn must help,” he said.
As we reported earlier this week, Del Conte already approached one donor for $15 million. Reaching out to donors and reeling them in doesn’t at all concern the new UT AD.
Based on how he discussed the football program, Del Conte is aware that Texas needs to keep pushing to bring what once was the leader back to the top. He talks like someone describing a giant that isn’t sleeping, but is taking a nap.
“We have the No. 2 recruiting class in the country right now. Why? Phenomenal brand. Whatever we need to do within our facilities, we have to go do those things to make sure we continue to have great recruiting classes. We have to address everything. Everything is on the table to look at. Doesn’t mean we’re going to do everything, but everything is on the table. We have always been the standard for others to follow. When the bones are great but aren’t as up to date, we need a refresh. We’ll look at it all.”
****
While Del Conte struck me as someone that will exercise patience as long as programs are moving on the right track at a respectable speed, and had a knowledgeable awareness of where respective programs are in their building process currently, he also made it a point to establish the goal at Texas is to win championships. Del Conte wants his coaches, athletes, and personnel to embrace that.
“Each team is so different, but the reason why you come to The University of Texas is because you truly have a chance to win a national championship,” he responded when asked how he’d consult Tom Herman about handling everything that comes with being the Texas Football head coach. “That is the expectation of The University of Texas. Period. Every student-athlete that comes in here has to be prepared and have the expectation to win a national championship. They carry that around every day. It’s hard. It’s exciting at some point in time, and other times you’re like boy that’s… hard to live up to that. When you’re 18-22 years old and you’re not successful at that, criticism comes with it… Everyone reads that stuff. They read it. Parents read it. Recruits read it. When I was at other places, we knew damn sure what everyone was saying. Every coach knows what they’re saying about their program.”
As he did during his introductory press conference and as he did repeatedly during a long talk earlier this week, Del Conte made it clear he’s at Texas to serve and arm his coaches, athletes, and personnel with what they need to win. And he wants Texas to get back to being Texas, which was Greg Fenves’s message to him when he approached him about the job.
“When someone is taking pot shots at you and you’re the number one brand, you have to be prepared not to be arrogant but to say we are Texas. We’ll do the very best job to live up to the expectations. When I counsel coaches, [I tell them] there’s a reason why you’re here. You’re here because they believe, we believe, I believe and people that hired people before me but now it’s me, that you can win a championship. And it’s my job to give them the tools necessary.”
As for the difference between consulting people at Texas and TCU, Del Conte summed it up like this:
“The difference is this place has won the championships and has a history of it; the difference between the hunted and the hunter.”
*****
Del Conte was asked about Texas and its standing with the Big 12. Basically, when the grant of rights is up, is Texas going to be sprinting out the Big 12 door? It sounds like Texas is at home in the Big 12.
“I think at the end of the day, if you look at the Big 12 for a moment were we not number one or two last year in every single sport we participated in? Across every single sport the Big 12 was number one or two in the country in every single sport we sponsor. Look it up,” he said.
When someone brought up the perception of the Big 12 nationally not reflecting that, the Texas AD responded about having a perception problem…
“We don’t. We have a media problem,” he said with a big grin, which was followed by some laughs. “So, what happens is… when you think about, we’re number one or two in every single sport we sponsor. That’s phenomenal. We are a 10-team round robin… if you win your league, you win your tournament, you get into the CFP. Oklahoma has done it twice. This year are they going to talk about the Pac-12 and Big Ten not getting in? It starts with you (the media). You dictate a lot of rhetoric. What am I’m saying is a lot is dictated by what perception is out there to be read.
“Within the Big 12, everyone is like, ‘Hey this is going according to plan. We’re in the right position.’ We know we have to do what we need to do to take care of business in our league. By winning a Big 12 Championship can you get in? [Yes.]"
When asked if there were enough viewers of the Big 12, Del Conte immediately and confidently responded.
“Sure. There’s plenty of viewers. Go look at ratings. Who was the number one bowl game rated in the state of Texas this year? Texas Bowl. Outside the CFP (College Football Playoff), what was the number one attended bowl game this year? Texas Bowl. Alamo Bowl was number five.”
Del Conte was sharp when it came to discussing television dollars, where the Big 12 fits, and where media was moving towards in the future. He also made it clear that the goal of the Big 12 design and setup is to get people into the playoff. That’s what Texas wants – to get into the playoff.
Speaking of the Longhorns, Del Conte summed up their status in the Big 12 like this:
“I think right now Texas needs to take care of Texas and get back to being Texas. Period. Then it takes care of itself. Period.”
When Herman inherited Charlie Strong’s team, he believed it was necessary to come at his players like a spider monkey. Herman laid down the law during his initial team meeting, and none of his players were happy. It was a drastic change from Texas’ previous staff, and the culture shock was hard for many players to handle. Herman inherited a team that endured three straight losing seasons. While some thought those players needed hugs, Herman believed it was more important to give them a kick in the ass to change their mindset.
If we are being honest, players were initially leery of the new staff. They did not know what to expect. The guys initially complained about Herman being too tough. They were not sure who to trust. Yancy McKnight, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, was the first staff member players were exposed to for an extended period of time. It was his job to develop their bodies, while establishing trust.
McKnight accepted the challenge prior to last year’s winter conditioning program, and exceeded the expectations of players and fans. “I told them day one in the team meeting,” McKnight said nearly a year ago. “Relationships. Just because I’m a coach, there are some respect factors that you are going to have automatically because you’re a coach, but at the same time, respect and trust is not given. That goes for both sides. I told them that. I don’t expect them right this minute to respect me completely, or trust me completely, yet. I’m going to work day and night, every minute, to earn it from them, and likewise.
“But it’s also really easy to lose it. It’s not really breaking them down. That’s not really it. They’re going to work. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to work smart and do those things. They’re going to train. I think they’re hungry. They (know the) standards that this place has at the University of Texas. They understand that. I think they’re on a mission to change.” McKnight turned out to be the favorite coach of nearly every player on last year’s team. He transformed their bodies. They became stronger and faster. More importantly, he earned their trust and respect. McKnight was the perfect bridge between a 5-7 team in 2016 and spring football practice in 2017.
Obviously, Texas finished with a 7-6 record last season, including a bowl victory against Missouri. It was the teams’ first bowl victory since the 2012 season. It was a huge deal considering Texas won the game without left tackle Connor Williams, linebacker Malik Jefferson, cornerback Holton Hill, safety DeShon Elliott, running back Toneil Carter, running back Chris Warren III, receiver Lil’ Jordan Humphrey and tight end Garrett Gray. There was a sense of accomplishment after the win. More importantly, it was a huge confidence builder.
In addition, one thing Texas lacked prior to last season was having the extra bowl practices to build momentum into next season. However, Texas had 15 bowl practices and the first opportunity to develop young players since 2014.
“What is the importance of going to a bowl game?” Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said late last season. “It’s another spring ball. It’s so huge. I mean you are completely behind. If you go two years here and don’t have the opportunity to go to a bowl, and I’m not talking about getting Malik Jefferson right. It’s like getting [Marquez] Bimmage [linebacker] right. Getting some of these other guys that need reps, that need to be coached by us. It’s so important to be able to have those extra practices. If you think about it, you practice up to whatever date we go to a bowl game, those kids go away, you come back and have winter workouts, then you’re back on the field in late March, or whatever it is. That’s great carryover for us, so, it’s huge, in terms of development.”
That is why the beginning of this offseason is different for Herman and his players.
When winter conditioning begins on Tuesday, Herman is working with a group of guys coming off their first winning season since 2013. There has been a lot of optimism and confidence throughout the program since that Texas Bowl victory in December. As a result, the start of winter conditioning will unlike last season. For instance, instead of testing players for strength and weaknesses on Tuesday, the Longhorns will hit the ground running. “Not testing,” a person associated with the program told me. “This is a motivated group that will be ready, so they go straight into their offseason program.”
That is the advantage of playing in a bowl game two weeks ago. If you think about it, the season for Longhorn players ended in November for two straight years prior to Herman’s arrival, meaning players had at least six weeks off after the season finale. Sure, some guys worked out on their own, but there were weeks wasted trying to get players in shape. As a result, the Longhorns were always behind when winter conditioning began the previous two years.
Now, you cannot forget lack of belief and confidence within the program after failing to post a winning season for three straight years. Strong and staff spent time trying to convince players they can win games. Ultimately, they never believed, and that resulted in embarrassing losses against BYU, Iowa State and Kansas during Strong's tenure.
However, Herman’s team is coming off a winning season, and people associated are confident their players are ready to go because of the bowl game.
“That group is aligned and pulling together like they did in bowl prep,” a person associated with the program told me.
However, let us not get too crazy.
Herman is not going to eliminate the three groups during workouts – gold, green and crimson.
Here is McKnight’s previous explanation for each group:
Gold: “Guys you have no problem with. Maybe even young guys that do it the right way, they’re mature, their position coach doesn’t have to run all over time chasing them around trying to (get) them to class, or get them to a lift, or whatever it is.”
Green: “Guys are transitioning up. Green for a traffic light. Moving that way."
Crimson: “For the guys who need help. Can't get to class. It’s ongoing. Every day is an evaluation. If you can’t get to treatment on time, we know we will have to put things in place to help you, and remind you, things like that. If you can get to where you’re supposed to go, and do all your stuff, then you get treated like a big boy. If you can’t do those other things. Can't set your alarm clock, then we’re going to have someone do it for you. You got a lot of responsibilities. You have to check in and do that stuff. I’m sure it gets monotonous, but once they change their pattern and behavior, we’ll take those restrictions off of them.”
Gold group players are usually rewarded with steak, shrimp, pasta, cheesecake and a triple chocolate cake, while crimson guys received burnt hot dogs, soggy eggs, and other bad food. For what it is worth, I was told players who were in the crimson group often skipped the poorly prepared meal and went to Chick-Fil-La to eat.
If you are looking for another positive aspect of the start of winter conditioning, think about the environment this year’s early enrollees are entering.
Instead of entering a divided locker room where upper-classmen do not respect freshmen, coaches comparing star players to fake diamonds, and losing is the norm, this year’s freshmen will enter a room full of guys who have experienced winning and are willing to pass along what they know.
From what I was told, the upper-classmen have been looking forward to the arrival of Herman’s freshman class because they desperately want guys on who can help Texas win. Of course, some players think the freshmen will provide depth, but we know there are guys who will push for immediate playing time, especially in the secondary.
“The signing class and bowl win really helped a lot with building culture,” a person associated with the program told me. “Great foundation was getting put in place, but that gave it a shot of energy.”
******
An area the Texas Athletics Department hasn't been up to par in during recent years is facilities. Specifically, there didn’t seem – and sources I’ve spoken with have brought this up over the years – a clear person in charge of facilities and the urgency to keep Texas at the top in college athletics.
Well, expect new Athletics Director Chris Del Conte to keep facilities on his mind and everyone else’s, and he’s not going to sit around and wait for a winning program to use as a tool to lure donors in. He will approach them immediately.
“My job is not to wait for him to have success for donors to come running,” responded Del Conte when asked if he needs Tom Herman to win before the next football projects. “My job is to come and talk about The University of Texas… I am running a business for them. For every donor that buys a season ticket, t-shirt, or donates a million dollars, I’m going to need their help. If we waited until we won a national championship before someone jumped on the bandwagon, then they’re not the wind beneath our wings we need. Every single Longhorn has been phenomenal. But I don’t want to wait until we say we have a winning season to go ask for money. That would mean I’m not doing my job.”
At TCU, Del Conte sold the vision of TCU when he raised millions of dollars while his athletics teams were still getting established. “I built an arena without Jaime Dixonl built an arena at Rice without having a winning tradition or culture there. You have to build a case for what it will do to help your entire sports program and your entire athletic department. We collectively all must help - coaches, student-athletes, donors, parents, friends. You name it. Collectively. Every Longhorn must help,” he said.
As we reported earlier this week, Del Conte already approached one donor for $15 million. Reaching out to donors and reeling them in doesn’t at all concern the new UT AD.
Based on how he discussed the football program, Del Conte is aware that Texas needs to keep pushing to bring what once was the leader back to the top. He talks like someone describing a giant that isn’t sleeping, but is taking a nap.
“We have the No. 2 recruiting class in the country right now. Why? Phenomenal brand. Whatever we need to do within our facilities, we have to go do those things to make sure we continue to have great recruiting classes. We have to address everything. Everything is on the table to look at. Doesn’t mean we’re going to do everything, but everything is on the table. We have always been the standard for others to follow. When the bones are great but aren’t as up to date, we need a refresh. We’ll look at it all.”
****
While Del Conte struck me as someone that will exercise patience as long as programs are moving on the right track at a respectable speed, and had a knowledgeable awareness of where respective programs are in their building process currently, he also made it a point to establish the goal at Texas is to win championships. Del Conte wants his coaches, athletes, and personnel to embrace that.
“Each team is so different, but the reason why you come to The University of Texas is because you truly have a chance to win a national championship,” he responded when asked how he’d consult Tom Herman about handling everything that comes with being the Texas Football head coach. “That is the expectation of The University of Texas. Period. Every student-athlete that comes in here has to be prepared and have the expectation to win a national championship. They carry that around every day. It’s hard. It’s exciting at some point in time, and other times you’re like boy that’s… hard to live up to that. When you’re 18-22 years old and you’re not successful at that, criticism comes with it… Everyone reads that stuff. They read it. Parents read it. Recruits read it. When I was at other places, we knew damn sure what everyone was saying. Every coach knows what they’re saying about their program.”
As he did during his introductory press conference and as he did repeatedly during a long talk earlier this week, Del Conte made it clear he’s at Texas to serve and arm his coaches, athletes, and personnel with what they need to win. And he wants Texas to get back to being Texas, which was Greg Fenves’s message to him when he approached him about the job.
“When someone is taking pot shots at you and you’re the number one brand, you have to be prepared not to be arrogant but to say we are Texas. We’ll do the very best job to live up to the expectations. When I counsel coaches, [I tell them] there’s a reason why you’re here. You’re here because they believe, we believe, I believe and people that hired people before me but now it’s me, that you can win a championship. And it’s my job to give them the tools necessary.”
As for the difference between consulting people at Texas and TCU, Del Conte summed it up like this:
“The difference is this place has won the championships and has a history of it; the difference between the hunted and the hunter.”
*****
Del Conte was asked about Texas and its standing with the Big 12. Basically, when the grant of rights is up, is Texas going to be sprinting out the Big 12 door? It sounds like Texas is at home in the Big 12.
“I think at the end of the day, if you look at the Big 12 for a moment were we not number one or two last year in every single sport we participated in? Across every single sport the Big 12 was number one or two in the country in every single sport we sponsor. Look it up,” he said.
When someone brought up the perception of the Big 12 nationally not reflecting that, the Texas AD responded about having a perception problem…
“We don’t. We have a media problem,” he said with a big grin, which was followed by some laughs. “So, what happens is… when you think about, we’re number one or two in every single sport we sponsor. That’s phenomenal. We are a 10-team round robin… if you win your league, you win your tournament, you get into the CFP. Oklahoma has done it twice. This year are they going to talk about the Pac-12 and Big Ten not getting in? It starts with you (the media). You dictate a lot of rhetoric. What am I’m saying is a lot is dictated by what perception is out there to be read.
“Within the Big 12, everyone is like, ‘Hey this is going according to plan. We’re in the right position.’ We know we have to do what we need to do to take care of business in our league. By winning a Big 12 Championship can you get in? [Yes.]"
When asked if there were enough viewers of the Big 12, Del Conte immediately and confidently responded.
“Sure. There’s plenty of viewers. Go look at ratings. Who was the number one bowl game rated in the state of Texas this year? Texas Bowl. Outside the CFP (College Football Playoff), what was the number one attended bowl game this year? Texas Bowl. Alamo Bowl was number five.”
Del Conte was sharp when it came to discussing television dollars, where the Big 12 fits, and where media was moving towards in the future. He also made it clear that the goal of the Big 12 design and setup is to get people into the playoff. That’s what Texas wants – to get into the playoff.
Speaking of the Longhorns, Del Conte summed up their status in the Big 12 like this:
“I think right now Texas needs to take care of Texas and get back to being Texas. Period. Then it takes care of itself. Period.”
